skimming (not reading) the last 2 pages of criticism makes me wonder what people were expecting. to me, this played out exactly as the past few seasons have - predictable at times, over-the-top, unrealistic, and deeply unsatisfying. i've felt this way since season 2 and i thought i was in the majority on that. pretty sure i still am.
it seemed they were skidding pretty hard into "family is all that matters" or "do whatever we can do to keep the [immediate] family together" in p2 of the final season, so yes, i thought the ending was predictable. up until the very end with jonah, which i didn't give a second thought because who gives a shit.
i'm all for having themes and directional story goals but i felt with the roller coaster byrde family dynamic (that we've seen over the years) that their target, which was "achieved", wasn't really true to the characters. bateman especially veered, which is frustrating, because wendy is such a fucking beating. if he told miami chick he would watch over tuck, then he would've. that's his character. he was forced into this life, which became easier because wendy embraced it.
all the circular nonsense involving the politicians and the foundation was all to serve wendy and to what end i'll never know or care to know. we're really supposed to think the byrdes are the new political kingmakers in the midwest/rust belt? ok.
if they really wanted to keep the story trajectory and stay true to the characters, they should've had everything heading the way it was, for the sake of misdirection. then once clare tells mama cartel about her son (which should've been planned), they turn the tables on her. she has ruth at gunpoint, and marty blows her head off from behind. he's always looked after ruth and considered her part of the family (which isn't saying that much).
then, when it's wendy's turn to speak, she's unable to find him, and instead sees a text or something. she does whatever she needs to do at the benefit, and marty and ruth dispose of the body. it's not that big of a twist but at least it's consistent. then marty heads back to his family and they go to chicago to live a regular life, until the walls inevitably start to cave in, which i don't care about because the tv show is over.
that's how it started, that's how it shoud've finished. they leave the ozarks roughly how they found it, and they'll be looking over their shoulders for fucking ever.
also the car flip from the premiere to finale was super fucking stupid and pointless and offends me as a writer and a television viewer.